Rosemont, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference announced Wednesday that Nebraska student-athletes Derrick Walker (Men’s Basketball), Sadio Fenner (Men’s Track and Field) and Micaylon Moore (Men’s Track & Field) along with Executive Associate Athletic Director/ Senior Woman Administrator Marquita Armstead will participate in the inaugural Big Life Series: Selma to Montgomery this weekend.
The trip is a journey to Selma and Montgomery, Ala., for an immersive and educational experience at a key center of the civil rights movement. The four Huskers are part of a group of 100 student-athletes, coaches, administrators, conference staff, and other key stakeholders from across the conference.
The Big Ten Conference initially announced this experience during Black History Month 2022 and is another example of the Big Ten Equality Coalition in action. The group, which will also include student-athletes, coaches, and administrators from the ACC and Pac-12 conferences, will participate in a variety of activities, including marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, site of the 1965 Bloody Sunday attack.
“We established the Big Life Series to help further prepare our student-athletes to impact the world beyond their athletic careers,” said Big Ten Conference Commissioner Kevin Warren. “Our trip to Selma and Montgomery is a first in a series of trips that our student-athletes, administrators, and members of the Big Ten Equality Coalition will take to inspire a meaningful dialogue about racial, social, religious, and cultural injustices in our nation. Big Life Series: Selma to Montgomery will empower our Big Ten Conference family to use their voices to drive change in their respective communities.”
The trip will begin Friday night in Montgomery with Sheyann Webb-Christburg, author and eyewitness of the original Bloody Sunday attack, serving as the keynote speaker and a viewing of an episode of the documentary series “Eyes on the Prize.” The trip continues Saturday in Selma at the First Baptist Church, where hundreds of students coordinated by the Dallas County Voters League began their days’ long journey from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. The trip continues with a march across the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge before the group returns to Montgomery to visit a series of landmarks, museums, and learning centers.
In Montgomery, the group will visit the Interpretive Center at Alabama State University, a historically black university (HBCU), to learn more about the profound impact that students had on the civil rights movement. The group will also visit the Civil Rights Memorial Center, the Alabama Department of Archives and History, and the award-winning Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) Legacy Museum, which provides a comprehensive overview of America’s history of racial injustice – from enslavement to mass incarceration.
On Saturday evening, trip attendees will hear from EJI Legacy Museum founder and social justice lawyer Bryan Stevenson before forming small groups to discuss their experiences. The small group debrief sessions will be led by campus Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion directors.
All member institutions will have conducted a series of introductory virtual meetings prior to traveling to Alabama to discuss the purpose of the trip and to prepare for their experience. Upon returning to campus after the trip, the Big Ten Conference will provide tools and opportunities for each attendee to convey their experiences about the trip to their peers.
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